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• y-i, t »*v i r f -ii-.i PAGE 10 — The Georgia Bulletin, Janaury 11, 1990 Nuncio Credited With Persuading Noriega To Give Up BY JOHN THAVIS VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A 10-day diplomatic dilemma ended when deposed Panamanian dic tator Gen. Manuel Noriega left his refuge in the Vatican’s Panama City nunciature and sur rendered voluntarily to U S. authorities. At the Vatican, a spokesman said Noriega's surrender was probably the best solution to what had become a diplomatic impasse. Noriega reached his decision freely and “without being pressured,” after “deep reflection” on his situation, said spokes man Joaquin Navarro- Valls. Noriega was arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials after he walked out of the nun ciature Jan. 3. He was im mediately flown to Miami and arraigned the next day on a series of drug-related charges. A "not guilty” plea was entered for the former strongman, and lawyers said his trial would be delayed by months of legal preliminaries. Navarro-Valls and U.S. officials credited the papal nuncio in Panama. Arch bishop Jose Sebastian Laboa, with convincing Noriega to leave willingly and face U.S. justice. President Bush thanked the Vatican and the nuncio for their “evenhanded, statesmanlike assistance in recent days.” In the United States, Archbishop Daniel E. Pilar- czyk of Cincinnati, head of the U.S. bishops’ con ference, reaffirmed praise for Archbishop Laboa. “I hope it is now clear to everyone that the actions of the Holy See played a decisive role in bringing an end to the violence in Panama without jeopardiz ing vital diplomatic and religious principles or the processes of justice,” Archbishop Pilarczyk said Jan. 4. In Miami, 53-year-old Lenin Sucre, a Panama nian businessman in exile since June, said that if Noriega had not left the nunciature, the crowds out side would have lynched him. “The Panamanians did not feel like they had been liberated until he left the nunciature.” Sucre said. Sucre, a candidate for senator from an opposition party in Panama’s May elections, said he fled his homeland after members of the Panamanian De fense Forces fired more than 1,200 times into his home in an effort to kill him on the day the votes were being counted. He said he and his family could not believe the news that Noriega had turned himself in. They and hun dreds of Panamanians went to Homestead Air Force Base near Miami to see Noriega’s arrival in the United States. Archbishop Laboa, a 66-year-old Spaniard, ex plained in an interview with Italian reporters Jan. 6 how he and others chang ed Noriega’s view. The archbishop said a Noriega adviser telephon ed the nuncio on Christmas Eve — four days after the U.S. invaded Panama — saying Noriega would unleash a guerrilla war in western Panama unless he was given refuge. “I was given 15 minutes to decide. My first reaction was to contact the Holy See, but that was not possi ble. I took the terrible deci sion,” Archbishop Laboa said. The Vatican later backed up the nuncio, say ing his decision had in ef- Archbishop's Appeal Continued from page l) Social Services. “It is of particular concern to the arch bishop that we focus on the needs of the un born through this project,” said Trish Johnston of the archdiocesan development office. Crisis Pregnancy aids pregnant girls and women from 13 to 40 years of age. It can provide shelter in homes of host families, pay medical and hospital ex penses in full or part, and offer counseling, medicine and clothing. The Challenge Project is the direct result of an informal plea made by the archbishop in a talk on last year’s Appeal. He spoke of his desire to raise funds for the archdiocese's ministry to the un documented. In response, $30,000 was rais ed, encouraging campaign planners to for malize for this year an appeal within the Appeal. And Crisis Pregnancy, which serves a constantly increasing number of expectant women and is severely strapped for funds, was designated as the first Challenge Project. The printing of brochures in Spanish as well as in English is another new feature of the 1990 Appeal. There will be a dinner workshop for all pastors on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at All Saints Church, Dunwoody. At that time they will be given information on archdiocesan finances, the Appeal and the promotion and education involved in making it suc cessful. Appeal literature will be distributed and goals explained to pastors and parish workers at three kickoff deanery dinners. They will be held Friday, Jan. 19 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Smyrna; Friday, Feb. 2 at St. John Neumann in Lilburn, and Friday, Feb. 9 at St. Pius X. Conyers. The gathering time is 7 p.m. for each dinner. Mrs. Johnston said the three-month pledge, an option offered in the last two yearly appeals, is again available. “This enables people to make larger gifts than they would in a one-time effort.” Catholics also are being urged to seek matching gifts through their employers. “Every donor employed by a large cor poration should ask if it has a matching gifts program. If so, this would sizably in crease the individual’s gift,” Mrs. Johnston said. Designated giving, through which the donor specifies what ministry the gift is to assist, is also encouraged. Funds received through the Appeal will be allocated as follows: Social Services, $385,700; Education, $687,200; Seminary support, $132,400; Growth. $250,300: Parish support, $113,100. It is estimated that there are 175,000 Catholics in 50,000 households in the 65 parishes and 19 missions of the arch diocese. One new mission. Our Lady of Vietnam in Forest Park, was opened last year. Each parish’s goal is considered careful ly. The pattern of parish giving, the parish population and whether or not there is a substantial debt are weighed in determin ing each assessment. “In addition to supporting existing pro grams,” Father Dillon said, “the annual appeal in 1990 must also face a new reality, namely the explosive growth with which the archdiocese will be faced in the next 20 years. In the 30 years since it was established the archdiocese has grown steadily. That growth has now become dramatic due to both the migration from the heavily Catholic north and from an in crease in Hispanic immigration.” While most Church income comes through the Sunday collection, this once a year opportunity to give more “is to focus on our identity as one archdiocese,” Mrs. Johnston said. It will support Archbishop Marino in his emphasis on evangelization to the un churched and to be a Gospel witness in the community. It is a way, Mrs. Johnston stressed, “to make Christ visible through our stewardship.” feet quelled the fighting in Panama, in which many soldiers and hundreds of civilians had died. Noriega arrived in a car sent by the nunciature, the archbishop said. On the car seat was a blanket, and a priest found a machine gun underneath and con fiscated it, he said. A few days later, one of Noriega’s own men found and remov ed Noriega’s last weapon — another machine gun — from under his mattress in a nunciature bedroom. Archbishop Laboa said he informed Gen. Marc Cisneros of the U.S. Army Southern Command in Panama City after Noriega had arrived. “It left them speechless. For them it was a humilia tion,” he said. The archbishop said Noriega thought at first he would obtain refuge in a third country such as Cuba or the Dominican Republic. But as the days passed, the nuncio convinced him that “neither the Americans nor the Panamanians would ever agree to safe conduct” for him. Even before the large anti-Noriega demonstra tion outside the nunciature Jan. 3, one of Noriega’s own advisers told him he risked being lynched by Panamanian crowds. The U.S. forces would never shoot at the people, who could easily enter the nun ciature, the adviser told Noriega. The nuncio stressed to Noriega that he would not face the death penalty in the United States if con victed. He added that U.S. prisons, at least, have TV and air conditioning, and that Noriega would be safer and more comfor table there than in Panamanian prisons. Noriega made his final decision after two long meetings with Archbishop Laboa, Vatican envoy Msgr. Giacinto Berloco and a few close assistants. They all went to Mass after the last meeting, the nuncio said. When Noriega left, the nuncio accompanied him to a nearby Catholic school building, where he was taken into custody. Noriega asked for and received a “personal souvenir” of his stay — a crucifix blessed at the Vatican, the archbishop said. Noriega then gave the nuncio a personal letter to Pope John Paul II, which was being forwarded to the Vatican. At the Vatican, Navarro- Valls said the talks be tween the nuncio and Noriega centered on “the responsibility Noriega had regarding the accusations against him, the situation and the future good of the country, and the inherent guarantees of the U.S. legal system.” Throughout the ordeal, the archbishop said. Noriega never questioned the fact that he would even tually have to leave the nunciature. “He realized that (to stay) would have seriously embarrassed the Holy See,” Archbishop Laboa said. The archbishop said Noriega appeared “nor mal” throughout the 10 days of refuge. He ate well and was physically in good shape, he said. But nuncio personnel and the Panama nian officials were atten tive for a possible suicide attempt by Noriega, he ad ded. In Rome, Vatican and U.S. embassy officials em phasized that U.S.-Vatican talks during the affair were cordial and friendly. However, there was ap parently little for the two sides to negotiate. The Vatican emphasized that handing over Noriega to U.S. forces would, in its view, violate diplomatic procedures and interna tional law. The Vatican ap peared to invite such a re quest from Panama, but the country’s new leaders said they wanted Noriega out of Panama for security reasons. Navarro-Valls said the outcome respected the principles the Vatican had defended throughout the af fair — particularly its refusal to hand over Noriega to the forces of the United States, which the Vatican had called an “oc cupying power” in Panama. Noriega received no guarantees other than those inherent in the U.S. justice system, Navarro- Valls said. In Honor Of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday A Mass For Peace And Justice will be offered at 12:10 Noon, Monday January 15, 1990 at Sacred Heart Church The Downtown Catholic Church Peachtree at Peachtree Center Ave. Parade On Peachtree Street Begins at 1:00 p.m.
